


come summertime

by cottagecorecas



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/F, Fluff, Giving Claire and Kaia the happy ending they deserved, Hunter Claire Novak, Post-Canon, Young Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:20:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28171545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cottagecorecas/pseuds/cottagecorecas
Summary: A oneshot that starts after 15x12 and follows Claire and Kaia for a short time after they reunite. It's pretty cliché I can't lie, but I think those two deserve a little cliché if you ask me.
Relationships: Kaia Nieves/Claire Novak
Kudos: 11





	come summertime

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ofcourseiforgiveyou](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ofcourseiforgiveyou/gifts).



> this fic is a gift for one of my best friends, maggie. maggie, it's indescribable how much i love you. i'm so happy that this show (as much as it has ruined our lives) has brought us together. i hope it doesn't seem narcissistic that i wrote something for you for your birthday, i just know how much you love claire and kaia, and how sad you were that we didn't get to see them reunite on the show, so i thought i'd put this little thing together for you. happy birthday! i'm sorry it's a little (a lot) late <3
> 
> (also i read this like 100 times trying to make sure there were no mistakes, but there's still bound to be some so if there are i'm sorry! my eyes are still tired from the stupid amount of cramming i did for uni last week. uni is maggiephobic confirmed.)
> 
> (just a warning that there's a mention of blood about halfway through, but nothing is graphically described and it's quite brief in duration)

Claire sits on the edge of the couch, biting the skin around her nails. It seems like hours since she got the text from Jody.

“What’s the hold up?” Claire asks no one in particular, a nervous flicker in her frustrated voice. Alex puts her hand on Claire’s shoulder.

“Hey, they’ll be here soon,” she says, giving Claire a sympathetic smile. “You know what traffic is like at this time.”

She checks the clock, and if it weren’t for its ticking echoing through the empty house, she’d be sure it stopped working. How has it only been a minute since she last checked? The sound of her boot as she nervously taps her foot on the floor thuds in between those slow, dragging ticks of the clock's hands, and though she tries to be patient and focus on something, anything, else, she finds herself checking the clock again.

After another excruciatingly slow five minutes pass, Claire’s fingers are bitten raw, but through the front window her eyes catch a flash of headlights on the road outside, and she hears the unmistakeable sound of Jody’s car as it pulls up in the driveway. Almost immediately, she shoots up from where she’s sitting, jittery legs now frantically carrying her forward to the front door. A few feet in front of it, she stops, unable to open it herself. She doesn’t even notice Alex standing behind her, a reassuring hand on her shoulder, too focused on the click of the metal key as it’s pushed into the lock, then the sound of it turning. After a few moments, the door slowly opens, and standing there is Jody. Claire looks at her, worried, but Jody smiles, stepping aside a little, and then out from behind her Kaia nervously peaks her head out.

Something Claire can’t quite read flashes across Kaia’s face when she catches sight of Claire.

“Hi,” is all she says, the tiniest of smiles on her face.

“Hi,” Claire says back, almost breathless.

There are dark circles under Kaia’s eyes, and she looks so tired, like she hasn’t slept since she first got to the Bad Place. Standing in that doorway, she looks so small, but she’s even more beautiful than Claire remembers, and her chest feels like it could collapse just seeing her. She wants to hold Kaia forever. She wants to tell her that it’s all okay now.

Unable to stop herself, Claire rushes forward, pushing past Jody a little and bringing Kaia in close, throwing her arms around her and squeezing her tight. She feels Kaia’s arms tighten around her too, and it doesn’t feel like long enough before they pull apart again. When they do though, Claire looks at Kaia, making sure it’s really her, and then she turns and hugs Jody. Her voice muffled where her face is buried in her shoulder, she says, “Thank you.”

“Hey, it was Sam and Dean that saved her,” Jody laughs, “If I’m honest I just waited and focused on trying not to have a heart attack.” Then Jody kisses the top of Claire’s head and pulls back, smiling. “How about we get Kaia inside in the warm?”

Claire looks back at Kaia, arms crossed around her body as she stands in the cold outside, and quickly makes room for her to come in. They all shuffle inside, Jody closing the door behind them and dropping the bags on the floor. Then she greets Alex, putting an arm around her.

“We’ll let you two catch up,” she says, giving Claire a look as she and Alex head for the kitchen. Embarrassed, Claire widens her eyes at her. She knows exactly what Jody’s getting at, but she isn’t ready for that conversation right now. She can barely keep her heart steady.

Claire turns back to Kaia, wringing her hands, “You tired?”

Kaia nods.

“I’ll show you to my room.”

Claire leading the way, the two of them make their way up the stairs in silence. Shuffling across the landing and into Claire’s bedroom, Kaia keeps her arms close to her, and Claire tidies up the clothes she’d dumped on the bed earlier that day.

“Sorry about the mess. You can sit here if you want,” Claire says, pointing to the newly cleared space on the bed.

Kaia sits, and after dumping her clothes in the corner, Claire joins her, a few inches beside her. She can almost feel everything she wants to say to Kaia in the air around her. She never really prepared for this moment, and God how she wishes she had, because she has too much to say and no way to say it now.

Kaia doesn’t say anything either and it seems like forever that they’re sitting there, looking at everything in Claire’s room but each other.

All of a sudden, Kaia breaks the silence.

“What’s this?” she asks, a wide, playful grin on her face.

Claire follows her gaze to her bag at the side of her bed; the furry ears of the stuffed cat toy Cas bought her poking out from the top.

Her heart stops. “Uh, nothing,” she rushes out, leaning over Kaia and scrambling to hide it. Feeling the blood rush to her cheeks, she’s sure they’re burning bright red.

“Come on. Show me,” Kaia teasingly pleads, leaning in and reaching round to where Claire has hidden the toy behind her back.

Then, Kaia looks up at Claire through her lashes, and stops. They keep their eyes on each other, faces hovering inches apart. The silence that has fallen around them is different now, and Claire feels her heart punch through her ribcage. She's almost painfully aware of how close she is to Kaia, and how easy it would be to lean in and kiss her. Kaia is still looking up at her through her long lashes, her eyes the prettiest Claire has ever seen them.

Something in Claire pulls her back, and eventually she looks down nervously. If she wasn’t bright red before, she definitely is now. She searches the floorboards for something to say.

“I’ll uh…I’ll let you get some rest. You probably need it,” she says, standing up and turning towards the door. She’s only taken a few steps when she hears Kaia’s voice, small and secret, call out her name. Claire turns back, and under the cracks of Kaia’s cool expression, there are the traces of harrowed fear.

“Will you stay with me?” Her eyes are big and pleading, almost as if she looks scared that Claire might say no. As if she could ever say no.

“If you want me to.”

Kaia gives her a small nod. “I don’t really want to be alone.”

It’s heartbrokenly honest, and Claire dreads to think of what Kaia has been through these past months. She tries to push those thoughts away, and gives Kaia a smile. “Okay.”

With that, Kaia scoots back from the edge of the bed, moving over to make room for Claire as she lies down, and Claire’s boots make soft thuds as she moves towards her across the creaky floorboards. Sitting on the edge of the bed again, she pulls them off her feet, and then she twists her body and leans back, lying next to Kaia. There’s a loaded silence that hangs heavy between them again.

Kaia is the one to move in closer, finding a spot to rest her head on Claire’s shoulder, and Claire hopes Kaia can’t hear how fast her heart is beating. Little does she know that Kaia’s is beating just as fast.

After half an hour, Claire thinks she hears Kaia’s breathing slow, Kaia putting more and more weight on Claire’s shoulder as she drifts off. Soon she’s asleep, and Claire decides to keep watch over her. Nothing is going to hurt her again. Claire will make sure of it.

♡♡♡

Taking a deep breath, Claire turns the key in the motel door. As she steps inside, she makes sure to keep her footsteps light. Although it’s hard to keep quiet with her heavy boots on the uncarpeted floor, it’s otherwise silent, and she’s sure she’s got away with it. She’s almost made it to her bed when there’s a flick of a switch, and a buzz of the overhead lamps as they struggle to life, eventually flooding the room with an almost blindingly fluorescent light. That’s when Claire spots Kaia, sitting on a chair facing her, arms crossed, her soft features drawn in a frown.

Claire prepares herself for whatever Kaia’s about to say, but as soon as Kaia sees Claire, her frown melts away, and soon enough she’s on her feet and rushing over to her, concern in her eyes.

“What happened?” Kaia raises her hand and gently places it above the cut on Claire’s brow. There’s a little sting that shoots along the edges of the wound as she examines it.

“It’s nothing. I’m fine,” Claire insists, batting away Kaia’s hands, but Kaia raises her eyebrows at her, unconvinced, and Claire knows she won’t win this fight. If she were honest, she didn’t really want to anyway.

“Sit here,” Kaia instructs, pushing down on Claire’s shoulders, and then she’s heading to the tiny kitchenette in the far corner of the motel room. Claire moves her head back and leans it against the wall, resting her eyes a little. The adrenaline of the job finally wearing off, it’s hitting her now how tired she is, and, trying to stay conscious, she searches for something to focus on. From where she’s sitting, she can hear Kaia opening cupboards, and the jet of the water as she lets the faucet run, and then there are soft footsteps coming back towards her, and Claire senses Kaia nearby again. When she opens her eyes, she finds Kaia above her, about to dab the warm wet cloth in her hand on Claire’s wound. Claire watches Kaia’s concentrated face, and tries not to wince as she does.

“You’re lucky you’re injured. You’d be in big trouble otherwise,” Kaia says eventually, half-joking and somewhat distracted by the task at hand.

“It’s just a scratch,” Claire replies, trying to sound as casual as she can. The throbbing in her head says otherwise though.

“Hmm,” Kaia hums, unimpressed. “What from this time?”

“A vampire,” Claire confesses, lowering her voice a little.

Kaia sighs, turning over the cloth, now stained pink with blood, to the other side, and reapplying it. “You took on the vampire nest by yourself?”

“It wasn’t that big-ow!” The burn that pulses through Claire’s wound when Kaia applies the anti-septic makes her take in a sharp breath.

“Sorry, sorry. Almost done.”

Using another cloth, Kaia dabs dry the skin around the cut. Then she reaches into the first-aid kit on the table beside her and pulls out a band-aid, taking her time to make sure she applies it in the right place. After, she traces it with her thumb to make sure the edges are secured, and then she’s leaning in and placing a gentle kiss just above it, the warmth of her breath on Claire’s skin bringing much-needed relief from the chill that Claire hadn’t noticed had lingered from the midnight air outside.

“All patched up,” Kaia says, standing back.

“Thanks,” Claire says shyly, almost embarrassed. “Does it look ridiculous?”

Kaia chuckles. ”Just a little bit,” she answers, holding her hand up and gesturing with her thumb and finger to show just how much.

Eyes fixed on one another, they’re both quiet, something sad on Kaia’s expression.

“I wish you’d let me come with you,” she finally says.

Claire sighs. She knew they'd circle back to this conversation.

Kaia’s voice is calm, but there's something assertive in it. “You know we can’t keep living like this, Claire. Do you know how worried I get when you sneak off like that? No texts. No calls. I never know if I’m going to see you again.”

Claire’s heart sinks. She knows Kaia is right. She knows she’s being a hypocrite – she resented Jody for the exact same thing, but it’s hard to forget what happened the last time Kaia said she go with her. The months of thinking she’d never see her again. The secret sobs and the silent hurt. Claire doesn’t want to go through that again. She can’t.

Claire stands up, rubbing her neck. “I know, I know. I’m sorry.”

Kaia steps forward. “Tell me what you’re so afraid of, and we can work on it together.”

Claire looks down at her feet. “It’s gonna’ sound so stupid.”

“Try me," Kaia replies. "It can't be as stupid as that band-aid on your head."

Claire laughs a little at that, and when he meets Kaia’s eyes again, she can tell her expression is earnest. As pathetic as Claire feels, she knows she can trust Kaia with this. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Claire lets it out. “I know it’s selfish. It’s just…I’ve just lost so many people. My dad. My mom. And I already have so much else to worry about, y'know? I never know if Jody is next, or Sam, or Dean, or Castiel, and I-“ Claire stops and looks down at the ground. She thinks that maybe looking away will make this easier. “I just like knowing that you’re safe, and that I won’t have to lose you, because I can’t lose you too. Not again.”

“Hey,” Kaia soothes, soft hands cupping Claire’s face and turning it up to meet hers again, a reassuring thumb brushing her cheek. Her eyes are warm and comforting, and they match her soft, sympathetic smile. “I’m not going anywhere, okay? I’m right here.” She leans her forehead on Claire’s. “When I said I’ll go with you. I meant it. We’re in this together, Claire. You don’t have to be on your own anymore.”

Claire can feel the threat of tears falling as they pool in her eyes, and just hearing Kaia’s words makes her feel somehow better and worse. She’s so thankful that Kaia wants to come with her, but she’s so scared that the best thing she’s ever had will be taken again.

They stay like that for a while, Claire letting herself be held, until she finally says, “Can we do something else? I just want to forget about all of this for a little while.”

Kaia nods, and, with that, Claire grabs a blanket and takes her hand.

On the roof of the motel complex, the sky is even clearer than it was earlier that night. The sky, blue where it traces the bright white moon, is otherwise black and flecked with silver stars, brighter than Claire’s ever seen them. Under the thin motel blanket, tangled in one another’s arms, Claire and Kaia entwine their chilly fingers, and point out shapes in the constellations.

Despite her heart racing, and the sick feeling that this could all be taken away from her again, Claire, one half of her face buried in the soft curls of Kaia’s hair, lets herself have this.

On the next job, they drive up a muddied road and pull up outside the nest. Kaia goes to open her door, but before she does, Claire reaches a hand across to hers and grabs it.

“Be safe, okay?”

“Hey, it was me who saved you last time, remember?”

Claire knows Kaia is trying to make her laugh, but it doesn’t work.

“I’ll be fine. Okay?”

Claire tries to be convinced by Kaia’s expression, although she isn't completely, and focuses on the task ahead.

If all goes well, there’ll be one less monster in the world, and that means there'll be one less that can take Kaia away from her again.

♡♡♡

“I have a surprise for you.”

“You do?” Claire asks, searching for clues in Kaia’s expression. Her brown eyes, like dark round buttons, are lit up, their golden flecked centres glinting in the light, and her lips are in the shape of a crescent moon.

“I thought we could do something normal people do today.”

“You know, being normal is overrated,” Claire teases, although she can’t help but be intrigued.

Kaia rolls her eyes and plants a kiss on Claire’s lips. “Shut up and follow me, Novak. You're having fun today whether you like it or not.”

Kaia leads Claire outside to the car. The clouds in the sky are a dark grey, and it dims the light of the afternoon sun. Kaia sits in the driver’s seat, and Claire follows her, climbing into the passenger seat.

As they drive, those dark clouds open up, and it starts to rain, but Kaia doesn’t seem phased by it in the least. Claire watches the trees blur past them, feeling Kaia’s eyes drift to her every so often in her periphery. After half an hour, Kaia’s smile grow wider, and Claire follows her gaze. Ahead, the sea comes up over the horizon, and Claire’s eyes widen in surprise. She hasn’t been to the beach in so long – maybe even since she were a kid – and even in all its rainy, misty, greyness, she feels herself grinning from ear to ear. She'd always loved the beach.

Soon they’re pulling up to the edge of the sand, and Kaia turns in her seat, reaching for something in the back of the car. She returns with two raincoats, handing one to Claire before putting her own one on.

“I don’t think normal people go to the beach when it’s raining,” Claire jokes, watching as fat raindrops pelt the windscreen.

“I thought being normal was overrated,” Kaia jokes. Then she says, “See you there,” and yanking her hood up, zip pulled all the way to the top, she pushes open the door and lets a gust of wind slam it behind her, holding on to the top of her hood as she runs to the sea.

Claire undoes her seatbelt and wrestles into her own raincoat, pushing her door open, fighting against the wind as it desperately tries to push against her, and stepping out into the torrential downpour.

Just like the stormy waves crashing to the shore ahead, something hits Claire then, standing at the top of that beach. Kaia looks tiny, swamped in her red rain jacket, trying her best to shelter her face from the rain with her arm, and against the mist, where the grey sea and the even darker, clouded sky meet, she is bright. Her sparkling, smiling eyes and chiming laughter, her dewy skin radiant against the bleak backdrop, the red of the jacket bringing out the pink of her cheeks as they’re kissed by the bitterly cold wind. Everything about Kaia is warm, like the cosy glow of the lights in the window after a long day, or the flickering flames of a candle, she seems to dance across the waterline, arms wide, spinning, and no matter how hard it tries, the pouring rain could never put her out.

This is when Claire knows for sure that she loves her, as if there were any doubt before. Even after all these months, her gut turns every time Kaia smiles at her, and her heart races every time they hold hands, and something warm blooms in her chest every time Kaia calls her name. If that weren't enough though, following her now as she spins and laughs, so full of joy, Claire has never been more full of love. With every stolen glance, all her hardness melts away, the thorns of her heart are cut away, the brambles of her soul cleared, and Claire feels like everything is going to be okay. Nothing could ever be bad as long as Kaia around.

There’s no doubt about it. She loves her.

“Come on!” Kaia shouts, and the delight in her voice makes her words almost musical. She’s holding out her hand for Claire to take, and Claire wants nothing more than to be right there next to her. She knows just how lucky she is. Not everyone gets a second chance like they did. Maybe one day, when all this is over, they could live here, just Claire, Kaia, and the sea.

After she lost her dad, Claire stopped believing in the happy endings of the stories he used to tell her. Somehow though, before all hope was lost, Kaia came back, and Claire has never been happier to be proven wrong.


End file.
